Archive: Educational Toys

Our friend and contributing editor Maca Huneeus gets around, so when she says that a kids store is amazing, we listen. Tantrum is in San Francisco, in the Cole Valley neighborhood, but you can order from them online, and you should. From a clever selection of books (lots of Bruno Munari, one of our favorites!) […]

We just discovered the Kid-O Cursive Magnatab board—and other than the annoying sound it makes, we love it. My daughter is so into practicing her letters with it, that I think we need to go for the upper-case letter board next.

In the last couple of months, our daughter started asking for a typewriter. Then it became begging. We finally found one at an antique store, for around $40, and she loves it. What was drudgery for her before, writing about what she did over a break, was fun, once she got to type it out. […]

I came across the Lego Architectural Series yesterday and thought it would make a perfect present for a certain type of kid or an architecture-obsessed adult. I’m a fan of the Farnsworth House, but I also think the White House would be a winner.

It’s tempting, especially when parenthood is brand-new, to jump at every beautifully designed kids’ toy you see. Then, after a few months (or, uh, years…), you realize that your son hasn’t touched that gorgeous recycled-wood horse since the day it was unwrapped, and that what you have here is a very small piece of shelf […]

The other day our 8-year-old daughter wondered how I was able to read our design-y wall clock, since it is tiny and has no numbers on it. It occurred to me that we hadn’t ever taught her to tell time. Granted, I remember seeing homework assignments that involved learning how to tell time, but realized […]

We really really like it when restaurants hand Wikki Stix to your kid when you walk in the door. Why don’t all kid-friendly or -unfriendly restaurants (because isn’t it in everyone’s best interest to keep kids quiet–a small packet of Wikki Stix will buy you at least 15 minutes of absolute kid silence)? Or, you […]

We were recently exposed at a friend’s house to Mad Cow, Bed Bug, e-Coli, and Swine Flu in one fell swoop. That is, the stuffed animal versions that are a million times the actual size of these pesky microbes. I have to admit that I was a little caught off guard when my daughter ran […]